Some communication systems employ spectrum aggregation techniques, in which a wireless terminal communicates with a base station over multiple aggregated carriers to provide high bandwidth capabilities. The use of spectrum aggregation is contemplated, for example, in Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A) systems that are being specified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). LTE-A is addressed, for example, in 3GPP Technical Report 36.913, entitled “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Requirements for Further Advancements for Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA),” (TR 36.913), version 8.0.1, March, 2009, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Spectrum aggregation is also described in 3GPP Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network Working Group 1 (TSG-RAN WG1) report R1-082468, entitled “Carrier Aggregation in LTE-Advanced,” Warsaw, Poland, Jun. 30-Jul. 4, 2008, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
The description above is presented as a general overview of related art in this field and should not be construed as an admission that any of the information it contains constitutes prior art against the present patent application.